Specifications:A highly practical medium telephoto lens with superb delineation and portability. Images are sharp and clear at all apertures. Through computer simulations, the lens has been designed to give beautiful background blur. Since the front lens group does not rotate during focusing special filter effects are not affected.

Just fabulous, it is a prime lens but at the 85mm setting it is sharper than my excellent 70 - 200L zoom; in fact for portraiture it is too sharp for model shoots; it picks up skin problems that I don't notice by eye! No it isn't built like an L lens but it is a solid piece of engineering and whether on a full frame or 1.6 crop this is arguably Canon's finest portrait lens in bucks for your dollars. Some lenses might be marginally better ( would be surprised if 99% of viewers could tell the difference) but I doubt if anyone buying this lens will part with it.

Dec 31, 2006

Janez NoriOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Dec 15, 2006Location: SloveniaPosts: 377

Review Date: Dec 16, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharp wide open and on all apertures, fast and accurate AF, beautiful bokeh and the built is very good (not L)

Cons:

I can't think of one

Everything has been already said. So I'll just list the most important things. I'm a portrait photographer, I do a lot of min dof portraits. This is an excellent performer, very sharp, my copy also at f1.8, AF is accurate (taht is important for min dof, because if it misses a few mm the sharpness is completely off). Bokeh is excellent too, creamy. I think it's by far the best portrait lens for the money it sells.

Not weather sealed, no lens hood...available one isn't too good either, suffers CA in highlight areas and high contrast transitions

I finally bought this lens. I've wanted to for a while, but needing to buy a 30D...and Canon's double rebate program gave me all the excuse to finally get it.

Right away I was impressed with it's size and weight.

After taking several test shots of fine detailed items...I was especially impressed. I took one shot from the doorway to my kitchen and the oliveoil bottom in the center of the image (16-18ft away) was tack sharp...pixel peeping the image, at 200%, you could see the label's paper texture! Love it.

Really nice bokeh, fast AF, good length for portraits.

If you've got the big $$$, the 85 1.2 might be for you...otherwise, this is a smart purchase.

Dec 15, 2006

j_ambroseOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Dec 9, 2004Location: United StatesPosts: 837

Review Date: Dec 12, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $320.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

f1.8, price, size and weight, focus speed.

Cons:

Nothing to report so far.

An amazing lens for the money, a little long for indoor shooting on a 1.6 crop but I'll get over it.

Severe purple fringing when shooting high contrast scenes at apertures wider than f2.8. Also, I had to send my lens back to Canon for recalibration due to backfocus.

This is a great lens. With an f1.8 aperture, you can get beautifully blurred background to isolate your subject. Colors are nicely saturated. Contrast and sharpness are somewhat mediocre at f1.8, but improve leaps and bounds by stopping down once.

When shooting wide open at f1.8, center sharpness is OK while borders are a bit soft. I was using a cropped sensor. I can only imagine the edge performance on a full frame dSLR would be quite soft when shooting wide open at f1.8.

Fortunately, corner-to-corner sharpness starts to become very impressive by f2.8, and critically sharp around f5.6.

Build quality is as good as it gets for non-L lenses. USM gives quiet and quick focusing. There's Full Time Manual focusing, and also a distance scale. Excellent sharpness, contrast, and color saturation. It has everything you could ever want in a lens, except weather sealing. For less than $350 USD, it's a bargain.

Unfortunately, my lens has a fairly severe backfocus. I had to send it back to Canon for recalibration. It's not an "L" lens, the retail price is very reasonable, and it's under warranty... so I won't hold this temporary setback against the lens rating.

Purple fringing is also fairly severe at any aperture wider than f2.8... especially at f1.8. It can ruin some shots.

All these negatives aside, the EF 85mm f/1.8 is a PERFECT lens for portraiture. On a full frame dSLR, it's great for half-body portraits. On a cropped sensor, it's more suitable for head shots.

A good alternative to this lens is its twin sibling, the EF 100mm f2 lens. Both lenses are virtually identical in build quality and sharpness. However, the EF 100mm reportedly does *not* suffer from the same level of purple fringing at wide apertures. Unfortunately, 100mm isn't nearly as popular a focal length as 85mm.

In conclusion, I heartily recommend the EF 85mm f/1.8 lens, and give it a rating of 9/10.

Dec 11, 2006

alfieriOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 25, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 178

Review Date: Dec 6, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $350.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

fantastic value; must-have prime on 1.6x crop body; great sharpness and contrast; pretty sharp down to f/1.8; very fast and accurate AF even on 20D/30D; very lightweight

Cons:

135mm/f2L is better choice on full-frame 5D (same FOV); 85mm/f1.2L has better colors and blokeh if you're willing to pay $1750 for it

Excellent Sharpness, Contrast and Aperture Shape for bokeh effects. Well worth the price, it is well built, has fast AF, and not too bulky.

Cons:

None. It's amazing.

After using this in the past with a 20D, the lens was too long for the portrait shots I required. They did produce however the sharpest photos I'd ever taken. I know also own a Canon 5D and I knew i had to get this lens. It is now my perfect portrait kit, shots come out amazing! Amazing, colour, contrast and sharpness. This definately has to be one of the best prime lenses canon makes that isn't an L series. If you are thinking about getting it, do it now, you will stare at the photos you take with it with awe!

Dec 4, 2006

--Daito--OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 28, 2005Location: CanadaPosts: 1

Review Date: Dec 3, 2006

Recommend? no |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 1

Pros:

Very Good performer on the paper

Cons:

Can not find a good one yet

I rate this lens very low because I've lost a lot of time in test trying to prove to my dealer how soft my copy was and also trying to get a replacement to the dealer.

Please Canon, increase your insurance quality - this is not the single one which I had insurance quality problem.

Compare to my 50mm it is very soft. @f2.8 the 85mm it is less sharp than the 50mm wide open. Compare to my 70-200mm (set at 85mm) my copy of this prime 85mm @f4 is less sharp than my 70-200mm @f2.8

- what a waste of time -

What keeps me still on the Canon camp is their stuning FF sensor

Dec 3, 2006

CarusoPhotoOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 30, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 54

Review Date: Dec 1, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharpness, bokeh, color

Cons:

none

This is quite a lovely little lens. Even though it's not designated as an L, the images it produces come quite close. I am quite excited about its sharpness and color. I began my lens collection with zooms, but recently I have begun to explore the wonderful world of primes. Buying this lens started me down that path (which has, incidentally, led me directly to the phenomenal 153 f/2L).

I believe the quality of this lens outstrips the cost. If I had paid more, I would still have been very pleased.

Dec 1, 2006

Gaby JalbertOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 23, 2006Location: CanadaPosts: 0

Review Date: Nov 23, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8

Pros:

For the price excellent lens. Great detail, excellent build, fast focus and even in low light will rarely search. Silent.

Cons:

Only negative aspect I found so far is intense purple fringing between f1.8 and f2.5. When chrome is involved prepare to see ALOT of purple. Over f3 its excellent. But since this lens is for portraits its not really a problem.

Nov 23, 2006

Thomas WareOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 17, 2006Location: FinlandPosts: 0

Review Date: Nov 17, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharpness, bokeh, AF-speed

Cons:

For the price, none

I have been using this lens just for a couple of months with 20D. However, it is becoming one of my favourite lenses. I am very pleased with the results, pictures are sharp, the AF is quick, bokeh nice and the price is not too bad. Complements well my 50/1.4 in non-flash situations such in indoor events and the like.

Nov 17, 2006

john PaulOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jul 22, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 150

Review Date: Nov 9, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $369.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Fast glass, great price, well built, very sharp, compact, & offers full time manual focus over-ride, which the L doesn't..

Cons:

Hmmm....none really..

I bought mine in 2000, and have been a very happy owner of it ever since.. I often shoot with this lens at f2.0, to f2.5, and get great results.. It's min. focus distance that I hear some reviewers complain about,...is not an issue for me when ever I use it.. It's made for portraits, right..? Why does someone need to move closer than 2.8 feet to your subject...? Nose shots..? Heck,..if you want to get any closer, it works very well with the Canon extension tubes.. I've even used the 85mm w/ extension tubes instead of my 100mm f2.8 Macro lens for close up work, and have been satisfied with the results..

Mine shows a lot of wear around the front ring,..but that's because I use it an awful lot.. In my studio, I shoot most of my stuff with this lens.. On location, it is a wonderful tool to have in the bag.. It is light weight, performs better than the 70-200mm f2.8 IS L,...it is small and black,...and doesn't stand out as much,.. it is brighter to look through,...it focuses faster than the L version of this lens,..and offers full time manual focusing, which the L doesn't....(neither does the MkII version of the 85mm f1.2 L).. For a portrait L lens, doncha think they would include that very important feature on a lens designated for portrait photography..?

Any ways,...I know many professional photographers who use this lens,..and are very happy with the results.. I might upgrade to the L,.. but I might just hang on to this one regardless.....BTW,...if you use a filter on the end of your lens, ans judge your lens sharpness with that junk on your lens,....don't! I never shoot with protective filters on my lenses.. strangely, I get pretty darn good results.....go figure.. :-p

It's one of the best optics I own, and if not for the purple fringing (it can be annoying around the catchlights in the eyes), I'd say it's a perfect lens. I use it as a portrait lens on my 5d and I keep congratulating myself for buying it. It makes absolutely beautiful pictures; not only portraits, but landscape details as well. I wish it could focuse closer, for 1:4 semi-macro, but it gets better with a macro extender.

This has to be my favorite lens to use. I think the value of this lens is unsurpassed in the Canon lineup. The build quality belies the price. As does the amount of glass.

This lens is very usable wide open and at f/2.2 this lens is razor sharp. One aspect that I wish this lens could improve on is CA, especially purple fringing, at large apertures. Shooting cars with chrome is out of the question with apertures larger than f/2.8. Wide open to f/2.2 the purple fringing is very noticeable even at standard viewing sizes. At f/2.8, you have to look very closely and past f/3.5 CA disappears. This is only a problem with very reflective objects and it never really poses a problem with portraits.

Portraits is where this lens shines. This lens produces very creamy bokeh with head shots and large apertures. I find the level of detail striking. This lens might be too sharp for some that may be sensitive to wrinkles and facial hair on female models.

Autofocus performance is on par with the 135 f/2L. Never did I find this lens to have problems with focus speed or hunting in low light.

This lens will stay with me for a long time.

Oct 11, 2006

tutumonOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 3, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 1088

Review Date: Oct 10, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $320.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

I have 5 'L' lenses(had the 85 1.2L also), The quality of this is on par(with all and better than!) some of the 'L's. I use this for indoor volleyball on my 20D at ISO 1600, and the pictures are absolutely fantastic!!!! Enough said!

Cons:

I don't see any.

Simply outstanding! Fast(large aperture) and Fast(focus). A must for all indoor sport activities. Also gorgeous for portraits. Very sharp at 1.8 I always use this at 1.8 for indoor sports. Pictures are tack sharp. Sharper wide open than many 'L's. Infact sharper than ,most if not ALL 'L' zooms that I have used.

Oct 10, 2006

Justin DOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Sep 8, 2006Location: GermanyPosts: 801

Review Date: Oct 6, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharp at f1.8, Very sharp at f2.8, feels good in the hand even if it is not L quality build (whatever that is). AF accurate and fast. Colour and contrast good, too. Good price and from what I read, consistent QC.

Cons:

Can't think of any. I remember thing the depth of field was a bit wider than I liked in a shot or 2 at or about f5.6, but I can't see the shots now. Probably imagining it.

An impressive lens. Fast enough to pull in almost as much light as my eye in some situations (at 1600), very sharp, comparatively light with a solid feel, good colours and contrast. For some reason, it took me a couple of hours (~50 shots) to start getting good results (could have been the behaviour of my 8 year old subject, though), but within a couple of hours, I had 5-10 shots I reckon are pretty good. Highest keeper ratio of all my lenses after the 70-200 f4L, but I'm not dealing with extremely narrow depth of field with the zoom.